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This case presents the dilemma facing one of the largest lobster wholesalers in the fishing village of Vinalhaven, Maine. Lobster prices were lowest in the last months of the year before the lobsters migrated to deeper waters and were harder to catch, but raised quickly to an annual high in March. Brown had recently purchased three lobster pounds which together held up to 180,000 pounds of lobster. In these penned-in areas, lobsters could be nurtured for up to six months before the risk of disease became too great. Having multiple pounds reduced the risk of an epidemic destroying the entire inventory, since rarely did disease spread between pounds. Prices had been holding above average, but Brown knew that early season prices held no guarantee about prices later in the year. He has to make a decision about how many of the pounds to open up for the season, whether to install an aeration system in one or more of his pounds, when to start putting lobsters into the pounds, how many to hold, and how long to keep them. This case is intended for use in managerial economics, statistics, and operations at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The case itself is very short but very rich. Students must make a judgement about how much lobster Brown should purchase to hold for the seasonal price increases that occurred each winter. They must take into account a number of risk factors including price history, mortality rates, and the cost of capital. While they need to use various analytical tools, the case comes down to the often-fuzzy domain of qualitative risk tolerance. This case was previously numbered 304-632-1.